bill herried

I needed some work done on my 87 coup. I had a faulty computer replaced among other things. I had the MAF replaced also. This work was done a year ago and it has performed fine until now. I have been having trouble lately. About every 5 minutes or so, the idle will begin to slow down. The engine will usually kill within a few minutes, unless I give it more gas. Then it will idle fine, for about 5 minutes and the cycle starts over again. I am guessing its burning off excess fuel. The code thrown is a 36. It says it is the MAF. I took it off and inspected it. It does not look like the one that was replaced. The one replaced was a Bosch. This one has a different name on it. (can't recall what it is) ? Any help would be appreciated. I think I have included all of the pertinent details. It is an 87 L98 Coup. It is completely stock, with an automatic transmission. Mileage is 144K. I have had it for about 10 years. I am the 3rd owner.

Cliff Harris

Error code 36 is MAF burnoff error. If you have a non-Bosch MAF it's VERY unlikely that it will operate the same way the Bosch does and you will get this error.

The way burnoff works is that the burnoff relay (or module if you have an '85) applies 12 volts to the MAF sensor wire, which makes it glow red hot and burn off any deposits that might have accumulated. The ECM measures the MAF output voltage during burnoff and will set error code 36 if it doesn't see a voltage within the parameters.

Using a scanner program will tell you what the MAF voltage is during burnoff and you can see what is happening. There is a long thread on error code 36 here (with lots of technical details):

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-36-help.html